PSR Blog

Four months ago, I was traveling across the Kazakh steppe by plane, train and bike with fellow students and young physicians from around the world. Two weeks ago, I was watching a 1987 documentary with fellow Washingtonians at our local Busboys and Poets, a community center for social transformation and delicious eats. Read more »

The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War student movement has a history of spreading its message through bike tours in various regions around the world. This year, as PSR’s student coordinator, I worked with three other students—from Kazakhstan, Estonia, and India—to coordinate an International Peace Bike Tour in Kazakhstan. Read more »2 comment(s)

The student PSR at Penn State Hershey started the school year with a PSR banquet at Harrisburg, PA and a lunch lecture featuring Patrick Bocco, the fundraising manager of CRY America. Read more »3 comment(s)

Hundreds of physicians and health professionals from all over the world came together at the 20th World Congress in Hiroshima, Japan to dialogue and strategize for the elimination of nuclear weapons and the threat of nuclear war. Read more »2 comment(s)

Tomorrow the United States will hold its 57th presidential election. And amidst all the arguing pollsters and pundits, the partisanship and polarization, there is a message that Republicans and Democrats alike can agree on… get out and vote. Read more »

“Nuclear Meltdown” -The words displayed on almost every American newspaper front page, television screen and computer homepage alike in recent days. An earthquake and tsunami descended on Japan causing worry and strife across a nation. Read more »

With the corporate takeover of our nation’s food system, eating a meal has never been so controversial. Few consumers realize the growing offenses to worker’s rights, environmental sustainability, and public health that factory farming inflicts on our world. Read more »1 comment(s)

The morning starts early with a Plenary entitled “Uranium and Environment.” The first presenter discusses nuclear medicine. Primarily, he focuses on the fact that traditionally nuclear medicine has used the same type of Uranium that is necessary for building a nuclear weapon (the so-called Highly Enriched Uranium, or HEU). However, he explains that recently, thanks to pressure from groups like PSR/IPPNW, most medical facilities around the world have switched to the non-weapons grade Uranium (LEU), without any deficit in patient care. Read more »

The morning starts early with a Plenary entitled “Uranium and Environment.” The first presenter discusses nuclear medicine. Primarily, he focuses on the fact that traditionally nuclear medicine has used the same type of Uranium that is necessary for building a nuclear weapon (the so-called Highly Enriched Uranium, or HEU). However, he explains that recently, thanks to pressure from groups like PSR/IPPNW, most medical facilities around the world have switched to the non-weapons grade Uranium (LEU), without any deficit in patient care. Read more »

After 18 hours of travel (and some lost luggage), I have arrived in Basel, Switzerland. The beauty of this city is breathtaking, and the people could not be more gracious. You find yourself constantly walking through the streets, taking in all the amazing sights, sounds, and smells of the city; as you might imagine, with all the distractions, it takes me a while to find myself to the conference site. Read more »

After 18 hours of travel (and some lost luggage), I have arrived in Basel, Switzerland. The beauty of this city is breathtaking, and the people could not be more gracious. You find yourself constantly walking through the streets, taking in all the amazing sights, sounds, and smells of the city; as you might imagine, with all the distractions, it takes me a while to find myself to the conference site. Read more »

On the surface, nuclear weapons, safe energy, environmental toxins, and other PSR issues may not seem like medical concerns. When I introduce myself as an intern for PSR and explain PSR’s mission, most people question the relation between nuclear weapons and medicine—this is the fallacy I want to address, and one of the reasons SPSR has created the student activist toolkit. Read more »

For those students who have never attended the NPT review conference, I would like to first give a snapshot of what the experience–or at least the first couple of days–is like. First, you queue…for hours. We waited outside in a line with visitors and other NGO representatives. Unfortunately there were only two people working at the registration on day 1, and this inside line inside was even worse – perhaps spending five minutes on each person, and well, with, say, 75 people in front of you…and you can do the math. Read more »

For those students who have never attended the NPT review conference, I would like to first give a snapshot of what the experience–or at least the first couple of days–is like. First, you queue…for hours. We waited outside in a line with visitors and other NGO representatives. Unfortunately there were only two people working at the registration on day 1, and this inside line inside was even worse – perhaps spending five minutes on each person, and well, with, say, 75 people in front of you…and you can do the math. Read more »

Please call your Senators’ offices and tell them to keep nuclear power out of the Senate climate bill. Recent events, such as John Kerry and Lindsay Graham’s op-ed in Sunday's New York Times calling for more nuclear power in the bill, add to the urgency of this call-in day. Help keep the Senate's phones ringing all day long by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Read more »

As the nuclear issue heats up in Iran, one other nuclear issue has been pushed to the backburner by the Obama administration. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which prohibits underground nuclear testing, faced Senate ratification once in 1999 and failed. In his April speech in Prague, however, President Obama stated that, "To achieve a global ban on nuclear testing, my administration will immediately and aggressively pursue U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty." Unfortunately, the administration has recently stated that it does not plan to take on the fight for the CTBT until a win is virtually assured. Read more »